


Cold Case

by halfpastdead



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Body Horror, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Crime Scenes, Death, Denial, Ectober (Danny Phantom), Family Drama, Ficlet, Full Dead AU, Gen, Missing Persons, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom), Police, ectober 2020, it's danny phantom lol is that somethin i need to tag?, technically, this one got me feeling the spooky vibes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27248359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfpastdead/pseuds/halfpastdead
Summary: Danny was no expert on the disposal of human remains, that much was clear. It was the last thing he'd ever hoped to be good at, awful enough that he'd had to try. It only made sense that APPD would find his body eventually. (Ectober Week 2020, Day 3: Cold Case)(AU where Danny’s human body eventually gave out and, for the protection of his secret, he had to get rid of it.)
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Jack Fenton, Danny Fenton & Maddie Fenton
Comments: 5
Kudos: 138





	Cold Case

“Weeks have passed since the skeletal remains of a John Doe were discovered at Ryerson Woods Forest Preserve, and today the Chief of the APPD declared efforts to identify the young man unsuccessful thus far.”

Danny tensed, unable to look away from the local news. _Skeletal remains._ The anchor continued.

“The case may have slipped from the public eye, but many still express fear of foul play. Here in Amity Park, this kind of mystery is unprecedented.”

A handheld camera captured the scene of the crime. It was unmistakable, shaky as the footage was— the tree with the single low branch, the oak stump. Danny recognized the place’s distinct features, he’d committed them to memory five years ago.

“Son?” Danny startled. His father frowned at the television. “I’m sorry, about—I thought the news was done covering it.” Danny shook his head.

“It’s uh— it’s alright. Just thought, y’know, something like this… maybe you’d tell me?”

“We didn’t want to worry you at school.”

It wasn’t exactly a phone call a parent was prepared to have with his son: ‘Hey, kid! Some hikers found your corpse.’ When they could, the Fentons skirted the subject of Danny’s ghostly status. Knowing his mom and dad, they probably never even got to thinking that he might like to know for his own sake. Horrible as the whole ordeal was, he’d found some peace knowing he’d disposed of his body on his own terms. Now it was with the state until they’d finished with it, then off to God knows where.

“Danny,” Jack lowered his voice, “Would you turn that off? This whole thing… hit your mother pretty hard.”

Danny could tell the segment was wrapping up anyways. His body was just a footnote on the local news. Sure. To Jack, _Maddie_ was the one who was hit hard. Surely their dead nineteen year old wouldn’t care either way. Why bother telling him?

Danny felt his eyes burn green. Jack didn’t notice.

“They don’t have anything on you,” he added for good measure. “Total cold case. We’re in the clear.” He clapped a hand on Danny’s back, interrupting the frustration bubbling to the surface. He took a deep breath and nodded.

“Good.” He mustered a weak smile, then retreated to his bedroom, shrugging his dad’s hand off. He tried hard not to look at his closet, to ward off the images of the only self he’d known, slumped in there, hidden away before he’d decided what needed to be done.

He jolted when he heard Maddie’s knock on the door. She entered before waiting for a reply, inviting herself to sit next to Danny on his bed.

“So, I heard about the news,” she sighed. “I’m sorry, sweetie. We just—didn’t know what to tell you, or whether to tell you and the whole thing, you know, as a mother, it’s been so awful to wrap my head around, even though you’re fine and I know you’re fine.” She shuddered. “I didn’t want to think about it. Think about you, like _that_ …”

“They didn’t show, like, photos or anything, right?”

“No! No, nothing like _that_ , but… the descriptions.”

Danny nodded hastily, a chill creeping up his spine. He tried to stifle the images coming to mind, his morbid curiosity tormenting him.

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat, “But, I’ve gone without it for a while now.”

“Sometimes I forget.” She smiled sadly. She placed a hand on his cheek, pushing hair behind his ear with her thumb. There was something more to him than other ghosts, anyway, the way he felt so solid. No matter what, he was her boy.

“I’m gonna get started on dinner. Hungry?” Her naturally chipper voice wavered slightly. Danny nodded, returning her smile. She gave him a squeeze on the shoulder and was gone.

That evening, John Doe was buried in Amity Park’s potter’s field, unmarked. Danny sat in silence with his family, unable to hear Maddie and Jack on the line with Jazz, the sound of metal scraping stone and the thump of damp soil filling his head.

In more ways than one, he’d always be alone. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a day late posting this Ectober ficlet, forgive me! Wrote most of it on Day 3! Ahhhh procrastination and rushing. Hope it was fun to read, anyway. Or kinda painful. I'll take either.


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